Introduction Celebrating Fifty Years of Awareness, Change, and Progress in Forensic Anthropology

Abstract

This article examines the origins and history of forensic anthropology. It pays particularly close attention to trends and developments in the discipline during the approximately 50-year period from the founding of the Anthropology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) in 1972 to the present. It highlights how narratives of the founding and expansion of North American forensic anthropology should be extended to include more notable foreign anatomists and anthropologists as well as theorists and practitioners of color. It explores how relationships between academic institutions and museums, such as the Smithsonian, led to partnerships with law enforcement agencies and more widespread professionalization, which continues to this day. Concerns surrounding professionalization contributed to the founding of the AAFS Anthropology Section and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. This article considers the Anthropology Section’s founding and purpose and how the section has changed over time. It also discusses the expansion of educational programs and training, taphonomic research facilities, anthropological work in medical examiner’s and coroner’s offices, and military, mass fatality, humanitarian, and human rights work in forensic anthropology. The article concludes by reflecting on the impact of the Daubert ruling and whether it has appreciably affected and altered forensic anthropology in the United States.